Urban Waters Voices: Darryl Haddock

EPA has released Urban Waters Voices, a series of 12 video interviews featuring locally led efforts to restore urban waters in communities across the United States. These videos feature local efforts and strategies to improve urban water quality while advancing local community priorities. This week’s video spotlights Darryl Haddock, Environmental Education Director for the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, describing some of the challenges faced by communities in the watersheds of Proctor, Sandy, and Utoy Creek (e.g. combined sewer overflows, water quality issues, and access to recreational opportunities) and how the organization is using their outdoor activity center to educate and engage residents about these challenges. Watch the video.

A current trend in funding urban stormwater programs relies on the issuance of stormwater utilities (i.e., fees) based on some measure of impervious surface (e.g., actual, estimated, average), and local programs vary greatly, dependent upon state law, municipal ordinances, and community support and opposition, among other factors. To incentivize decentralized stormwater management, whereby citizens and institutions engage in on-site stormwater management, some municipalities offer stormwater utility credits to those that install green infrastructure on their private, industrial, or commercial property. Our effort reviewed stormwater credit programs in multiple precipitation zones in order to develop a typology of popular program aspects, with a particular focus on rain garden design parameters for single family residences. From there, we assessed these design parameters for hydrologic impact (i.e., runoff reduction) using a semi-quantitative assessment tool (internally codenamed the stormwater calculator) that can serve to quickly assess the rainfall-runoff performance impact of stormwater BMP installation using historic data (e.g., 20 yr precipitation) and site-specific information (e.g., soils, slope). Results may be used to provide guidance for stormwater utility credit programs.

Participation Instructions
· If you will be participating remotely, please follow the instructions below:
1. Call 1-866-299-3188 and enter conference code 5135697852#
2. To join the Adobe Connect meeting: https://epa.connectsolutions.com/greeninfrastructure/

Michelle Latham
Biologist | Technical Communications
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research & Development
National Risk Management Research Laboratory
Water Supply & Water Resources Division
Phone: (513) 569-7601

American Rivers and Green For All have just released two new reports on green infrastructure O&M, the links to which are found below.

Staying Green: Strategies to Improve Operations and Maintenance of Green Infrastructure in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Staying Green and Growing Jobs: Green Infrastructure Operations and Maintenance as Career Pathway Stepping Stones.

Around 150 participants met in Albuquerque February 28-March 2 to hear both national and local speakers address a broad range of topics related to communicating across the disciplines of water conservation, stormwater management and xeric landscaping.  An expo followed March 2-3, featuring a wide range of exhibits and even more speakers.  See the Arid LID Conference tab above for agendas, presentations and summary documents from each of the Arid LID conferences since 2010.

American Rivers has just released a guide to permitting approaches that encourage or require “low impact development” or “green infrastructure.” The guide combines model permit language with excerpts from comment letters that have helped to drive permit evolution, and is intended to be a resource for community and watershed advocates:

http://www.americanrivers.org/newsroom/resources/permitting-green-infrastructure.html

On Jan. 10, WEF launched a new website dedicated entirely to stormwater news. The Stormwater Report site highlights advanced practices, cutting-edge research, policy updates, and current events pertaining to stormwater. You also will be able to find nearly 2 years of stormwater news and resources. A monthly digest will still be available as an e-newsletter. Subscribe online.

Among other useful resources, the website includes a link to the new National LID Atlas, built by the National Nemo Network, that includes successful examples of LID and green infrastructure across the US.  See it here: http://stormwater.wef.org/national-lid-atlas/.

The Center for Watershed Protection and the Chesapeake Stormwater
Network have developed a three part instructional video series on Low
Impact Development construction, installation and maintenance
specifically for the Landscape Industry.

The videos can be viewed and downloaded here.

Maintenance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coFbdMB-q0U

Construction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efu1LfF1rio

Inspection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAFuMro0gvA

EPA has just released a fact sheet series on the benefits of Low Impact Development (LID) and addressing obstacles to wider adoption of LID. They are available at
http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/green/bbfs.cfm

This seven-part series of fact sheets is primarily intended for state and local decision makers who are considering adoption of Low Impact Development (LID), but who have concerns with LID. These fact sheets explain the benefits of LID in clear terms and through examples. Specific fact sheets in this series directly address specific concerns that have been raised about adopting LID, thereby busting barriers.

Building on our 2011 Strategic Agenda, EPA’s Green Infrastructure Program is pleased to unveil our new website and to announce the availability of technical assistance to 10-20 partner communities.

Our new website repackages and expands upon our previous website to showcase EPA’s research on green infrastructure and to serve as a gateway to the wealth of resources developed by governmental agencies, academia, non-profits, and the private sector.  Stakeholders will be able to consult our website for up-to-date information on green infrastructure publications, tools, and opportunities.

Tamara Mittman
US EPA Office of Water, Water Permits Division
1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20004
202.564.1093

Green for All, in collaboration with the Economic Policy Institute and American Rivers, has published a report analyzing the job-creation potential of a major investment in green infrastructure practices to reduce pollutant discharges to water bodies in the US.  You can read the report here.